The best and the worst 2023

My worst was daffodils. I had planted lots of different types in pots. Hardly any flowered. Lots of leaves but nothing else. My best would be Japanese anemones. I was given three plants three years ago and they are absolutely stunning this year. They seem to survive on benign neglect as does my lavender plants which have been wonderful this year

My philadelphus shrubs have been extraordinary this year. also have clumps of shashta daisies which have been in constant flower for three months. Sadly lost four mature shrubs which have been with me for many years. Fully understand they must have a lifespan but four at once has made me wonder.

The cold short frosts early in the year a a real affect on bulbs, particularly tulips.
Heard that on gardeners question time.

Dealing with early frost, so many wet days sometimes accompanied by high winds, bar the hardiest of plants doing well, this summer has been a washout.

Best in show has to be four different coloured hollyhocks with plenty of support canes, they are beautiful.

We had plums!!
The cosmos has yet to flower
The fuschias are not as good as usual.

But the new amelanchier, having looked very sad after the hot weather, has decided it's spring and is flowering.

It has been a strange summer.

I lost a clump of penstemons to the frost - another clump in a more sheltered position is doing wonderfully, as are the dahlias which I always leave in the ground over winter and feared the sub-zero temperatures last winter would have seen them off. Better than ever this year. A beautiful old hardy fuchsia succumbed too. The Japanese anemones are doing very well this year - they didn’t like the hot dry summer last year - and the first flush of the roses was fantastic. Hollyhocks have been spectacular too. Some you win …

My Fuchsia's did not make it through the winter, nor did the Cosmos atrosanguineus which I had for several years, both stored in the shed as usual. Lots of bulbs did not come up or when they did were blind, nothing like the previous years wonderful display. Begonia's in hanging baskets not done well either, far too much rain & wind here. My first year of growing Dahlia's and they have done well, small Rose in pot, slow to start but has given a lovely display now for weeks. My other pots of various combinations some good, some not so good. In general I have been disappointed.

There are so many plums this year-cascades of them! They are Victoria plums, I've only got a very small freezer and am giving loads of them away. The apples and runner beans have done very well too, perhaps as a result of all the rain we've had.

I lost my much loved Japanese Anemones over winter so have recently bought replacements - they’ll take a season or so to mature but I hope they’ll be as good as the previous ones.

Penstemons are supposed to be easy but I can’t keep them, sadly. The odd weather has a lot to answer for but I’ve been very pleased with what survived and thrived.

I bought 6 different varieties of Agapanthus plants to replace the ones I lost over last winter. Only the largest type flowered with just one head , despite them all being sold as ready to bloom this summer.
The success has been my annual favourite Tidal Wave Petunias, bought as garden ready plugs. They are still flowering their socks off, climbing and trailing for several metres around the pots. I grow them every year.

Yes I lost my agapanthus too. I won’t bother to replace anything that couldn’t cope with last winter, it’s a waste of money. I thought I had lost the rosemary too but gave it a trim and a chance and it’s come back very well.

Best for me flower wise was sowing a pack of Nicotiana Grandiflora, all colours came through from deep browny pinks to white, so healthy and loads on the allotment and garden borders flowering their socks off. Also Titan sunflowers self seeded on the allotment and came up with one massive head and many smaller ones to each plant. The small ones had a good stalk for cutting. I wish I could post a pic of my sunflowers with chocolate coloured nicotiana in a bright yellow vase, but my phone won’t allow.

Disappointing ‘Sungold’ tomato seeds, only three seeds in the packet! One came through.

Only three pears total off my three trees, don’t know what happened there.

Plums literally rotted on the branch.

My 50p pack of Alisa Craig onion seeds came good as usual, and I have just plaited up about 150 onions.

Overall, pleased with the garden this year. Sunflowers have done very well and have reached heights the GC's hoped for. I have one big pumpkin - we weighed it the other day and it came in at just under 2 stone - so that'll be good for hallowe'en.

My white calla lilies have been disappointing - no flowers at all this year.

I'm thinking along the same lines as GSMum - if it didn't make it through last Winter I'm not replacing. I do have lots of Mediterranean plants, but the advice on GQT (I think it was recently) was to think really hard about those with colder winters coming along.

My best is definitely the courgettes, I have had hundreds of them, I’ve given plenty away to anybody whose arm I can twist as well as using and freezing them myself. My dahlias are excellent too this year, I’ve got one orange one which has grown huge, it’s so bright that it’s like a traffic light at the end of the garden.
The sweet peas have been very disappointing, they didn’t like the early hot weather and haven’t really recovered. The other bad thing here is that weeds are rampant too this year, they seem to love the damp and dismal weather.

Best still is tomatoes, loads from five plants, the picture is today’s picking.
The Gazania and Geums are still lovely, as are courgettes.
Cosmos didn’t even germinate, beetroot disappointing.

Jaxjacky

Best still is tomatoes, loads from five plants, the picture is today’s picking.
The Gazania and Geums are still lovely, as are courgettes.
Cosmos didn’t even germinate, beetroot disappointing.

Love your tomatoes *Jaxjacky.

Mine have been so rubbish, not worth the bother this year.

We had a lot of losses over winter including all my carefully stored dahlias but amazingly, the three or four I left in the ground are flowering their socks off . Ate the moment, the best display is from the climber ‘Spanish Flag’. From one packet of seeds I have about eight plants which are now growing up anywhere they can scramble with hundreds of flowers. The roses have been wonderful. Veg plot a bit of a disaster, even my runner beans are not doing well and the courgettes are all leaf and male flowers. The tomatoes are OK but had to ditch outside ones as they got blight. So a waste of time and effort in the main. The row of radicchio look as if they are going to be my best effort.

The worst for me has been the effects of the hot weather in June, followed by incessant rain for 2 months.

I was far behindhand with veggies so have very little to show for that side, except for my onions, some of which are huge because of the copious amounts of water they've been receiving.

(weeds have done very well, too...)

The courgettes have only just started producing fruits, they were very slow to take off.

Something else seems to like the courgettes too, a bird or perhaps the squirrel. There are definitely large holes in some so it's not slugs.

(weeds have done very well, too...)
Don't mention them.

Although, having mentioned the squirrel, there are now two having a standoff in the corner of the garden.

Courgettes and tomatoes disappointing. Carrots copious, elephant garlic huge , ordinary garlic small, first lot of cauliflowers and cabbages wonderful, subsequent Ones rubbish, masses of flowers from everything except the dahlias.

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We lost every single penstemon, annoyingly I hadn't taken any cuttings this year. Some of the cosmos are starting to have buds but most are blind.
The dahlias are spectacular and so were the roses until we had heavy rain which spoiled the blooms! Veg wise, everything has done well but is late. I bought some zantedeschia rhizomes and lily bulbs at the RHS Spring show which I have grown in pots. They are wonderful and have given me lots of pleasure. Pics attached, do give them a try they were extremely easy to grow and the lilies have a lovely perfume.

Wonderful strawberries and raspberries thought they’d never end
awful pear and apples one pear this year ….last year 30
The apples all dropped off before getting to full size

Tomatoes and courgettes brilliant (dozens) ….beans not so good went stringy very quickly, peas lovely didn’t plant enough, quite a few onions bolted
Cucumbers late but coming on well now potatoes good, chard grew too quickly before I could use it

My tomatoes have been prolific.. no tulips at all, the lavender isn't very happy, lots of californian poppies earlier which appeared from nowhere.. however my bamboo is now so high I'm wondering what to do with it.. any anwers gratefully received..